From Russia with Love (1963)

James Bond willingly falls into an assassination ploy involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by SPECTRE.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Johanna Harwood (adaptation)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Daniela Bianchi	...	Tatiana Romanova
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Kerim Bey (as Pedro Armendariz)
Lotte Lenya	...	Rosa Klebb
Robert Shaw	...	Grant
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Eunice Gayson	...	Sylvia Trench
Walter Gotell	...	Morzeny
Francis De Wolff	...	Vavra (as Francis de Wolff)
George Pastell	...	Train Conductor
Nadja Regin	...	Kerim's Girl
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Aliza Gur	...	Vida
Martine Beswick	...	Zora
Vladek Sheybal	...	Kronsteen

Storyline

James Bond 007 is on the search for a Russian decoding machine, known as Lektor. Bond needs to find this machine, before the evil SPECTRE organization discovers it first. Whilst being romantically linked with Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, Bond sneaks his way around Istanbul, whilst each SPECTRE agent tries to pick him off, including the over powering Donald 'Red' Grant and ex-KGB agent Rosa Klebb who knows all the tricks in the books and even possesses an incredible poison tipped shoe!

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Plot Keywords:

butt slap | mauser c96 pistol | mauser pistol | mauser | raki | 

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Taglines:

His new enemies, His new women, His new adventures! [USA 1999 poster]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Russian Turkish Romany

Release Date:

27 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bons baisers de Russie

Filming Locations:

"The Canals", Venice, Veneto, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$24,796,765

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$54,100,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The collapsing rifle given to Bond isn't a gimmick, but was an Armalite AR-7 survival rifle which was a production item which actually does disassemble and fit into its stock. However, it fires the .22 long rifle cartridge, not the .25 caliber as was stated in the film. As of 2015, it is still in production by the Henry Repeating Firearms company. It is one of very few firearms that will float when dropped into water.

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Goofs

Bond's Walther PPK is thrown overboard during the fight on the Orient Express. In Venice the following day, Bond is wearing the PPK in his shoulder holster.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Morzeny: [after Grant kills a look-a-like Bond] Exactly one minute, fifty-two seconds. That's excellent.

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Crazy Credits

Ernst Blofeld's actor is credited as "?".

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Alternate Versions

The 2001 DVD release corrects the misspelling of Martine Beswick's name in the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in 20 to 1: Sporty, Rich & Sexy (2010)

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Soundtracks

From Russia with Love
Music by John Barry
Lyrics by Lionel Bart
Performed by Matt Monro

User Reviews

Better than Fleming's Novel!

Hard to believe, but the movie is actually an improvement on Fleming's novel. Rather than have the Lektor operation be a simple Russian scheme to discredit Bond as Fleming did, SPECTRE takes a hand here in their first on-screen appearance as an organization. The plot is improved considerably because of this. The movie thrives on its supporting actors and Sheybal. Connery is somewhat outshone by these greater lights, but gives a credible performance. From Russia... is a different pace of movie: no one here is intent on wiping out the world's population, or destroying the gold supply, or stealing submarines. Basically, it's a quiet little plot focusing on an elaborate "sting" operation. Until the end, the pace is kind of slow, and might lose more "modern" audiences, particularly those used to incredible stunt sequences every 20 minutes.